A World With You
by HelikaAkileh
Summary: Alpha AU where the Guardians are all the same age. Dave Strider is a hotshot director but the Baroness has got her red trident firmly planted on society, wanting very badly to get rid of him. He manages to find Jade Harley's secluded island in the middle of the Pacific. Just maybe he's found his escape. DaveJade.
1. Chapter 1

**Alpha AU in which all the Beta kids/Alpha Guardians are the same age. I was working on this story RIGHT BEFORE their real story was revealed. **

**Andrew Hussie owns Homestuck and will kill whomever he pleases regardless of what I do. **

**-x.x.x.x.x-**

He sat relaxed in the seat of his helicopter, eyes staring out the window behind his signature shades. Nothing but water as they flew across the ocean. He would've sighed, and did internally, but his face was frozen in a line that he didn't feel like breaking. There was so much wrong with the world that he could feel it palpable in the city. It was all he could do out here to break away from the steely grasp of that crazy batterbitch. His last movie had made some not so subtle references to the corruption she had wrought into the international market system. He could feel her anger, her eyes searching for him.

He wasn't easy to catch though. It wasn't so much that he was hiding as much as he was too visible. The public hailed him as the hot shot Texan director that produced daring yet ironic films. Cinematography that brought them untainted joy, a distraction that was also a clever eye opener to the reality that too many were becoming complacent with. The younger generations no longer knew of a world without her corruption. It was a losing battle, a tug of war with a trident and she held it by its throngs. His palms were sweaty but he held fast. Once she took a swift tug he'd be gone before she could turn it around and make fish food outta him. It also helped that practically no one knew his whereabouts for any long period of time.

A dot appeared in the middle of the blue. Huh.

He pressed closer to the window.

"Raul? Is that land popping out of the water or am I getting like, ocean mirages here?"

"There's definitely something there, sir. It's not on the map as far as I can tell. It's a tiny thing."

A small uncharted island huh? Sounded like a legit evil lair setup. Better yet, indigenous and uninhabited island full of crazy ass fauna for his next movie location?

"Can we take a landing, Raul? I'm going to micro this shit and get my scope on."

"You're the boss." The chopper swerved steadily to the right, heading in the direction of the island... with a... tower?

He could see his pilot try to make contact via radio. There was no response as far as he could tell. If he wasn't getting shot at by hidden machine guns or missiles then he guessed he was fine.

The fuck? He squinted out the window. Was that a... frog...?

It was most definitely a frog topping that tower like some Aztec deity. His eyes remained glued to it. Something about the seriousness of the frog idol was oddly hilarious. Way to pick the derpiest ass animal in the kingdom as your god. He thought about the possibility of natives on the island but as far as he could tell he hadn't seen any cluster of... what did indigenous people call their housing units? Huts?

The greenery was forced into a haphazard frenzy as the copter came closer for a landing. The leaves on the trees and grass rolled more wildly than desperate strippers at a club, and unsettled dust scattered the surrounding area. He waited for the propellor to slow so he wouldn't have a hard time getting out. Also fuck, this was a nice suit jacket. He wasn't about to ruin it, gotta impress the natives with his dry cleaner Tide fresh threads. Show them the miracles of ocean breeze scented fabric softener.

'What's that smell?' they'd ask. Why, it's the smell of a thousand clean sweeps of sweet ocean, just like the fifty thousand miles of it that surrounds our fucking island. Yes, this man, in his infinitely coolness and ocean scented threads is to be honored.

To think he'd throw his chances at indigenous ambassadorhood by getting dirt on his jacket.

"Looks all clear, sir."

He took off the headset and gave a thumbs up. "Nice work, man. Stay here while I check the place out." He waved a walkie-talkie nonchalantly. "I'll give you a buzz if I need some quick escape."

He stashed the thing into his sylladex and checked over what he had stored. He made a mental note of his sword and hopped out to land. Despite the weird feeling of his body adjusting to solid ground, he showed no signs of unease as he stood up straight, eyeing his surroundings. He supposed if there were any people around they'd located themselves near their amphibious lord tower, hoping it'd teach them how to survive underwater once global warming hit or something. Or if that big ass volcano exploded. How did he only notice that now? He wondered what else he could've missed. No wonder they chose to worship a frog god. It was so fucking stupid they could use it as the ultimate distraction when being attacked.

Gonna drop a nuke here once I find the vil- Oh is that a fucking toad on a pedestal? Holy shit what a dumbass animal, I should take a pic- Oh shit now I'm in the ocean.

Fucking genius. Even better, ironic.

After about ten or so minutes of walking without any signs of threat, he began to get bored. He took out his cell phone and began to talk himself through his trek.

Talking to himself had become a bit of a habit. Recorded mental notes and processes that he'd comment on later. Sometimes he didn't even bother listening to his tapes, but it was... somehow therapeutic to voice what he was saying. There weren't many people he actually liked talking with outside of work, so when he couldn't find someone to talk to he'd resort to this. He was pretty positive robot communication was the way of the future. He tried to keep his private life mostly to himself, kept his hobbies to himself, literally.

"So Dave, I'm on this fantasy frog island, fucking trees and plants everywhere, but there's a clearing in 5, 4, 3... whoa shit that's some alien movie bug." He took a moment to make sure the giant spiky yellow slug didn't follow him before continuing his countdown. "2... 1."

There he was, standing with a clear view of a hopefully dormant volcano.

"Right, there's the mother of all furnaces here too."

He didn't need someone else prying into his thoughts, at least beyond what he let show through his films. That was his voice to the public.

He looked up at the sky. It was actually really nice here. Minus creepy bugs, there didn't seem to be much going on. Well there were a shit ton of seagulls.

"Bunch of brainless feathery assholes too. Ugh, so far I've seen nothing but super slug and these annoying beach birds. Was hoping I'd find some more interesting fauna..."

"Fauna?" a voice repeated behind him.

The voice was distinctly female. I.e. not his.

"There's not too much around here except for me. I hope I'll do."

He whipped himself around and took a look at the figure before him.

"Well shit."

**-x.x.x.x.x.x- **

**Thank you for reading! Sorry if Dave is OOC because his irony is hard to write for me and sorry for the random OC also... but it was necessary. I don't really know if I will finish or what direction this is going in, but it'll be DaveJade for sure. **

**Also if you want to read another Homestuck story of mine, I have a DavespritexJade/DaveJade fic! Reviews aren't necessary but they are very encouraging. All the mwahs!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Ch. 2**

"Well shit."

There a few meters before him stood a figure, a short one at that. What was immediately eye catching though was the rifle she held up proudly next to her, not aimed at him but at the ready.

"Back at you."

The bright sunlight made it easy to see her through his sunglasses. By the looks of her, and the obvious lack of a language barrier, she seemed anything but indigenous.

"I'll assume you're not a native of the Frog Tribe from the lost land of Amphibilatis?"

In her smile he could see an obvious overbite. "Not quite, but I'm all that's here aside from my dog and a few funny little creatures."

"And seagulls. Can't forget those noisy bastards," he said motioning to the sky.

"They weren't so noisy before your helicopter came, I'll have you know."

As if taking her cue, the birds suddenly stopped their incessant noises. Five seconds later they started up again, though calmer.

The woman frowned and looked up at the sky. "Oh huh. That was fast." She closed her eyes and lowered her rifle the slightest bit. "I think I have something of yours."

What?

While inwardly he frowned, his expression remained straight.

"He's at my house," she added.

"House?" he asked with a raised brow.

"Over the hill, surprised you didn't see it when you landed."

"Sorry, got distracted."

"Frog Tower?"

"Frog Tower."

She smiled, happy at the conversation. "I'm Jade."

"Dave Strider. You probably don't know me from all the way here in the Bermuda Semi-Circle. Just your average millionaire film director passing along the sweet ocean we share, thought this place would make a great evil hideout, you know? Mad scientist on a private island deal?"

Oh look, he made her grin. "Well Mr. Coolguy Director, I'm no one special. Just a botanist with a non-evil scientist lab here at Ribbitsville."

"Lab, huh? Getting the chills here, doc. You're gonna mutate me, huh? Mix my DNA with a toad to create the Ultimate Frog. I bet it's some prophecy written in those ruins."

"Like I said, I'm more of a botanist. Plants. I could try to mix your DNA with a pumpkin?"

"Well shit, what are we waiting for? Let's get this party started. Lead the way Doctor..." he trailed off waiting for her to finish the sentence.

Then she giggled. "Harley. My name is Jade Harley." She laughed more. It was a noise much more pleasant and befitting of her than any other sound.

Jade let her gun fall to her side and turned around. She wasn't so worried what would happen if she turned her back. She had very good intuition.

"Come on, your friend is waiting." With that she began walking forward as if the whole situation was normal. Wait, what did she say about a friend waiting?

"Raul?" She just kept walking.

What had the bastard gotten himself into? Moreover, how could he have gotten into anything at all?

A tower came into sight. Again, he wondered how captivating a frog statue could be to make him so ignorant to the rest of the island features.

"Oh, and I know who you are," she said swerving around, her mass of long black hair swiveling behind her. "I've just never seen your face."

Oh is that so? He had to admit, kind of an ego boost to have his fame reach god knows where this was. "Not surprising. There's only a few shots of me on the web. I'm not big on social events."

"No? Isn't that what hotshot Hollywood film directors do? Party at premiers or something?" The doctor asked with a frown.

"I gotta say Doc, for someone who lives out in the middle of I don't even know where, you've got some extensive pop culture knowledge."

"I have a few friends who are very fond of your movies..."

They approached a heavy metal door. Jade pressed a few numbers on a pad and green lights scanned her palm.

"What's with the security? Afraid a seagull is going to break and enter? Steal a pumpkin?"

She frowned. "Pumpkins are very easy to steal. And you're not my first visitor Mr. Strider." Her mouth returned to a smile. "I've never had such a cool guest before, though."

"I'll bet." He looked around as she opened the door.

She entered her... house? ...And made a motion with her arm for him to come inside. "Sooo cooool," she mocked.

A faint smirk twitched onto his face as he walked in.

Jade shut the door behind him.

"So if you're the only one here, and your house is password protected, how'd my pilot end up in this joint?"

"I said my dog was here to, didn't I?" She said with genuine confusion. Like having a dog would make all the sense in the world as to answering his question.

They walked into what looked like a kitchen and living room. It was extremely neat, formal. Except for the two hundred pound man laying on the couch. Oh, and the fucking hellhound beast that sat complacently near him. Its tail wagged as Jade opened her arms wide with a big smile.

"Bec! Good Dog! Best friend!"

The giant dog immediately stood up wagging its massive tail more furiously and got up on its hind legs to greet its apparent master. The thing hovered slightly taller than the short woman.

She took out a very sickly looking T-Bone steak and tossed it up. The dog caught it and took it to a corner of the room.

"Uh... so nice place you've got here."

Jade walked over to the unconscious Raul on her couch. Poor guy. Loyal guy, really.

"I think your friend must've hit his head when he saw Bec... He's alright but he's definitely knocked out. No telling when he's going to get up..." She stared at him, thinking. "Sorry about that. Do you know how to fly the helicopter or do you need this guy?"

Dave shrugged. He actually had a pretty decent hold on how to fly a chopper, but seeing as he had no idea where they were, he wasn't really going to go at it blind. Flying, fine. Navigating... maybe not so much his forte. "Kinda need him."

"Darn."

"What's wrong doc, want to get rid of me already?"

She beamed, her big round glasses shining in the light as she rose. "Not quite, but sort of."

"Ouch. Go and hurt a guy's pride, will you? Right in the heart."

"From the looks of it, you're going to have to stay the night though." She bit her bottom lip looking distressed. He wondered if her overbite had been the product or stress, or if it was just a habit of hers.

"Oh, I get it. Afraid you'll lose your self-control for the hot director that you've always admired. I know, I'm a big deal. You seem like a cool lady yourself, Doc. But you've got to keep yourself restrained, you see? I can't just be your personal island man candy one night stand. It's unfair to all the mainland girls waiting for me back at the states."

"It that so?"

"Oh, for sure."

"In that case, maybe you should try being less cool?" she suggested.

He shook his head. "No can do. It's strictly impossible, like physics defying. Me being less cool would probably warp and rip all of the space time continuum or some shit."

"Oh nooo. We wouldn't want to be responsible for all that. I guess it's up to me to hold myself back."

"Sorry, I wish I could make it easier on you, Doc."

"Then can you do me a favor, Mr. Strider?"

"Shit, after what I'm putting you through tonight I feel like I owe you."

Smiling, she said, "I don't think I'm going to get used to being called 'Doc.' Try something else?"

"Doctor Harley?"

Her displeasure was obvious and immediate. "Ew, too formal."

"Harley," he said with a straight face and tone.

"Now that sounds cool," she said with a grin. "Does that mean I'm supposed to call you Strider?"

He shrugged, so she practiced.

"Strider..." she tested out on her tongue.

They both paused with frowns.

"Dave Strider... Dave... Strider... um... hm. It doesn't sound as cool when I do it. I guess I'm not cool enough to pull of the last name basis thing."

"Dave," he said suddenly. He didn't know why. Only a few people in his life ever called him that.

"Dave," she repeated with ease.

He nodded shortly.

"Nice to meet you," she said extending her hand.

"Back at you, Harley."

She tried to keep a straight cool face like his, but failed into another fit of goofy laughter. He cracked a smile.

**-x.x.x.x.x.x- **

**Hello all! Thanks for the review and favs! Sorry that it's not very immediately shippy but gotta set the stage for now. Also sorry if it's moving too fast plot wise! Even I want to get to fluff... ahaha. Leave reviews if you feel so inclined, it'd be so so so so much appreciated! For fan art/sorta spoilers...? for the DaveJade that will inevitably ensue, please check out my tumblr here: (Without the spaces!) post/26483816794/ alpha-au-doodles-for-this-fanfic-that-im-ashame**


	3. Chapter 3

**Ch. 3**

"So you came to my island because you thought it was the Condesce's evil lair or something?"

"Research," he replied plainly.

They hung around the kitchen casually. Dave leaned against the marble island, holding a cup of black coffee in his right hand as he spoke.

Jade was opposite of him, back against her counter relaxed. She nodded as she heard him speak. "Research for a new film, right?"

"Yup." He took a good drink from his mug. He didn't know why he liked the bitter stuff. At some point in his teenaged years, back when SBaHJ was nothing more than an online web comic, he had started drinking coffee to keep him up when he felt particularly inspired to get shit done. Stuff tasted shitty, but got the job done. Now he was accustomed to the taste and effect of it.

"See anything particularly inspiring?" Jade asked, mimicking some of the thoughts in his head.

He gave a mild scoff. "Like I could get over that frog. I was here for twenty minutes tops before you ambushed me all up in arms, ready to pounce like a rabid fangirl. Believe me, there have been plenty. I know what I'm talking about. And you're all desperate for this hotshot, plotting to get me into your bed, even took my pilot captive to lure me into your lair."

Jade smiled, "You caught me." Getting a better look at her, he saw that her overbite wasn't all that bad. Certainly a bit much for a twenty something year-old lady.

Now relaxed, Dave took the time to examine the woman diagonal from him. Jade was still youthful looking, probably around his age. Her hair was long and black, falling down her back carelessly. She didn't seem like the type to pay much attention to that sort of thing. Why would she need to anyways? She lived isolated from the world; there wasn't really anyone to impress. Not that he thought she was unkempt by any means.

"You're damn straight I caught you. I always knows what's up and what the women want. I already told you Harley, can't happen between us. This city guy has a few thousand of girls back home that need him to stay a bachelor. Imagine the heartbreak that'd ensue. Fucking anarchy of the ages."

"Right, right. You have such a heavy burden to bear, fate of the female population and all."

"Don't I know it." His delivery and smirk initiated more bubbly giggling. For a doctor who seemed to know her way around a gun, the goofy glasses and fits of laughter were a bit of a contradiction. The whole situation was odd, and the mischievous gleam in her bright green eyes convinced him that the strangeness of it all revolved around her.

Then again, her dog was a mindfuck in its own right. He would've taken a glance at it, but his back was turned and the gesture would have been too much effort and too obvious.

"Sorry about all that," Jade said sincerely, casting her gaze at the beast instead. "Bec and I aren't very good with unexpected visitors."

"Hey, far be it from me to judge. I'd be pretty wary of an unannounced pair of strangers landing on my pad. Sorry. Rude of me to waltz in."

Jade smiled into her cup. "It's suspicious on both ends. But I'm sorry that you didn't get a chance to look around. I really think this place is great." She paused to look back at him. "As small at it seems, there's actually a lot of ground to cover. There are some really beautiful places here."

He threw the last lukewarm gulp down his throat; the bitterness coating his mouth didn't bother him.

After a good while of somewhat comfortable silence Jade set her own porcelain mug down on the counter behind her. "I have an idea," Jade began. "Let's explore. I'll show you all around, like a tour!"

Dave set his empty mug down. "Sure. I don't know what else we could do anyways with the whole... situation we've got on our hands. Paws."

"There's plenty to do, but that's the reason you came, right? Besides I feel bad about your pilot blacking out..."

Dave cast a look towards poor Raul. He was breathing fine and so he wasn't too concerned. He did get the short end of the stick, being dragged by a giant glowing dog versus a somewhat attractive amazon botanist.

"We have unspecified amount of time to kill, so let's make the most of a bad situation!" Jade chimed.

He didn't have any better ideas, nor qualms so he gave her a quick shrug of the shoulders while stuffing his hands into his pockets. "Lead the way."

Jade clapped her hands once, the excitement rolling off her palpably. "Oh good!"

**-x.x.x.x.x.x- **

**Sorry for the chapter being short! There's not too much content in here, but um... the next chapter will be better and more shippy. I would've made it one big chapter but this part was already ready... Anyways, thanks a bunch for the reviews and favs and alerts! Means a lot to me. Mwahs!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Ch. 4**

Rifle in arm, Jade led Dave out of her lab/house.

The sudden change to intense sunlight made Dave squint just slightly behind his shades. Jade held a hand over her bright green eyes. The surrounding area was pretty flat, an expanse of brightly lit, lush grass and some scattered rocks. Had he not trekked through the forest or seen Jade's house then he would have assume this was all there was to the island. Miles of grassy land surrounded by water and nothing else save for a frog statue.

"I guess the most obvious place to check out are the ruins, huh?"

"Sweet."

"Yes!" she exclaimed excitedly.

Following after her Dave wondered what to do. Should he bring out his sword? Jade was carrying her rifle for some reason. Maybe he should film on his phone? He certainly wouldn't be self narrating.

As she continued marching forth with full gusto, he began to see Jade in a much different light than that which he would have expected. Take a look at her and you've got a pretty scrawny, non-threatening, nerdy looking girl- though the rifle was a great foil to that image- but here she was barreling through the grass, smiling and outpacing him easily. Not that he was out of shape by any means whatsoever. He was certainly fast, and he was sure he could outrun her- in short bursts. He wasn't really a long distance sort of guy.

She paused to turn around, not in the slightest out of breath. "The ruins are really special! I bet you've seen nothing like it. The whole island is really great. I love it!" She flashed a smile and then whipped back around.

He took a second to breathe. The smell and feel of cool ocean and warm grass colliding did something amazing for his senses. The thoughtful inhale nearly took him back. It felt like his first breath in... maybe ever. The rest of the sensory stimulants came rolling after, barreling him. Walking on thriving grass, the sound of waves, the feel of the sun and passing breeze. He tried to shake it off and continued walking forth.

"Starting to get what you're saying."

"Good. Now hurry up Dave. We've got to make it to those ruins before it gets dark."

He raised an eyebrow. "What, is there a curse or something once the sun goes down? Frog statue is actually like, one of them gargoyles isn't it? Have you seen that show? Shit comes alive at night and kick some ass."

"I don't think I know what you're talking about, but the frog statue doesn't come alive at night, just sits there catching the eye of famous directors and such."

"Right. So what's the whole, 'before the sun sets' deal? Don't tell me _you're _the cursed one. Oh god, this is why you wanted me to stay overnight, huh? You're a vampire. I've seen how this works. You're actually a dude too, aren't you? That's what the creepy ones do. Transform into girls and attract guys over to kill them and suck them dry of their blood."

She turned around and frowned.

"Okay, maybe you're not a dude. Don't worry, there's plenty of plot left for this whole vampire shtick. I'll be the teenaged girl, and you can be the hot vampire that I fall in love with because you're all mysterious and save me from cars and other vampires. Also werewolves hit on me and you get all sorts of jealous, but you don't gotta worry because this chick is definitely Team Edward."

"There are so many things wrong with that Dave. First of all, why are you a teenaged girl? Second of all, that still makes me a guy! Last, I am not a vampire and would much rather be a werewolf!"

They had reached some manmade looking rocks, laying in ruin on the ground. Old and sturdy, covered in what he was going to assume was just moss and not some furry green mutation.

"A werewolf, huh? You're one of _those_."

Jade climbed up the dark gray stone until she reached a good sized ledge. She held out her hand to held him up, frowning as she asked, "One of those what?"

"A furry, Harley. A fucking furry. You wish you had like, cat ears and a fucking furry tail to match. I bet you have a fursona," he said taking her hand and getting up to her level.

"A what?"

"Fursona. Don't play dumb with me. You're into anthropomorphic creatures getting it_ on_. What are you, a koala? Is that a thing? Zebra? Lion? You're a lion aren't you?"

Jade put away her rifle and exchanged it. He watched as she took aim and fired at the statue. A clear shot straight above a dark opening. A grappling hook, huh?

Jade hooked her arm around his waist. "Hold on to me, okay?"

"Scratch that, you're Batman."

She clicked a button and they were up in the air, wind gusting past them. Geez, he could've just used his skateboard. "If I was going to be part animal at all, I'd be a dog for sure!"

"Sorry. Dog ears and a fluffy tail. Better?"

They went right through the opening and landed somewhat steadily in the inside of the frog ruin.

"Better," Jade said letting him go.

Dave ran a hand through his hair, trying to fix whatever windblown strands had fallen out of place. Jade simply shook her head, and he could see where the dog fascination kicked in.

"Well, here we are! Good thing we made it on time. The sun is in a good spot to light it up!"

With his shades on he had to admit he was thankful for the lighting. Convenient. He could make out some hieroglyphics on the walls. He walked up to inspect them more closely.

"I think it was a temple... probably did worship the frog. They're are a lot of frog looking carvings, but a bunch of other reptile looking creatures are there also."

"Except they're all standing on two feet."

"Right. There are some lotus flowers which are easy to recognize, but... there's a circle with a lotus sort of pattern. I don't know what that symbol is but it's repeated a lot."

"Maybe the sun?" Dave suggested.

"I was thinking that, but there's another circle there. It's divided but has spikes, which might be the sun's rays. It doesn't seem like it though, but I don't really have any other guess." Jade stood next to him and crouched down, pointing to the symbol she had been describing.

"Looks deadly," he said bending down slightly.

"It's really cool though, whatever it means. I've studied the walls a few times but there's obviously something else in here that's been much more interesting." She got up and flattened her skirt out. "I'll show you." She took his hand and began to lead him towards the other end of the cavern.

She liked to touch a lot, he noted. Or rather, she didn't seem to care about personal space much. There was the intimacy of lifting him up and putting her arm around his waist that didn't fluster her in the slightest, and now she had her small hand wrapped around his wrist as she walked forward unfazed. He could chalk up the first to necessity, but the latter act was not. Maybe what was stranger was that he didn't mind. Whenever he was shooting on location people remained at a distance. The occasional pat on the shoulder or high-five were dealt out whenever he saw fit, but his trademark thumbs up was his usual form of... he guessed affection. When people got too close he backed off or got extremely uncomfortable. Jade Harley's easy touches had no such ill effect.

She let go when they reached their destination only a few feet away. It was a small place after all.

"Here."

In front of him was a flower. To be more specific, a giant flower. It wasn't quite large enough to situate the giant frog that sat directly above them, nor was it as big as the monster sized lily pads that dotted the waters below, but still a pretty big fucking flower. Its deep magenta petals were up and closed tight, reaching to his neck. Even more mind fucking was the thing it was sitting on. The base was brown and green. It looked like it weighed a ton, which would very well explain why Jade hadn't transported it back to her place. It was complete with a... count down clock that reached into the billions. Why would anyone have a counter for that long?

"It's set to reach zero in less than a year." Jade said quietly.

"December 1st."

She nodded. "My birthday."

"You know what happens when it countdown ends? Confetti? Virus that invades the earth?"

"I'm going to assume that the flower blooms."

"Right. Good assumption. That's what you get for being a paleontologist."

"A botanist. Plants."

"Botanist." He turned his head to see what else was around. His eyes landed on a crate. "What's that over there?"

Jade turned to the direction he was facing.

"Oh, I brought some of my supplies up here when I was trying to see what species this was. It's almost identical to the flowers around the island. All the plant life here is really strong and wild, but this one has some sort of anomaly."

"Cool." He didn't know how else to respond. He really didn't know much about plant DNA.

"Doesn't matter. I'll do more observation when it opens."

"Sounds like a fun birthday."

"The best."

"Maybe it'll have a cake inside or something."

She smiled and took him by the wrist again. "Maybe." Jade proceeded to walk to the entrance to the use-to-be temple.

"We going?"

The doctor shook her head. "Not yet. It's sunset."

She got on her knees and sat down, legs dangling over the edge. Her hand left his arm to tuck her hair behind her ear. "Sometimes I forget how pretty it is to watch the sun set here. I'm usually in the lab."

He looked out to the horizon where a very orange sun was sinking steadily. The entire cavern was lit with a warm glowing light. "Fucking swooning over here, Harley. This is where you take all your dates, isn't it?"

Jade didn't say anything. He tilted his head to look at her.

"Harley?"

She smiled widely at the sky, obviously breath taken.

"Earth to the doctor," Dave called.

She quickly dropped her smile for an expression of surprise. Her green eyes were wide and alert as she turned to him. The big orbs reflected the bright orange sun, and in them he saw flicks of gold. He felt warm.

"Sorry! I spaced out for a second there."

He shrugged, hoping the weird feeling would also roll off with it. "Happens to everyone."

"Me especially... I'm quite the space case. I've always been. Ever since I can remember I've had these... episodes, I guess, where all of a sudden I'm dead to the things around me."

"Happens when you focus on stuff. I'm pretty unresponsive when I'm working."

Jade shook her head, her hair swishing back and forth behind her. "No, not like that. Sometimes I'm focused on work too, but it's something else. It'll feel like deja vu or like dreaming? I don't know how to describe it, but afterwards..."

There was a sudden crack where the room illuminated with eery green light, like neon green electricity.

He turned and it stood there.

"Holy fuck, Jesus Christ!" he exclaimed seeing Jade's beast standing there stoically. Glowing.

"Looks like our ride home is here. Like I was about to say," Jade got up and pet him, "Every time that happens, Bec shows up." She roughly pet her dog until he dropped the scary looming statue act, and began wagging his tail. "Good boy, Bec!"

"What the fuck Harley?"

They stopped messing around and she faced him. "Um... I don't know how to explain."

He tried his best to recollect himself as he stood up, not sure of what his next move would be.

It hit him.

"Harley... I know what you are. I'm not afraid."

"Um... Dave?"

"A werewolf." Not quite the line, but whatever.

Her face broke out into a huge smile and giggles erupted from her mouth. "Yes, Dave. I am a werewolf and I've come to suck your blood."

"Okay, now go pull a Michael Jackson and go all Thriller on this joint."

"I actually get that reference!"

"You better. It's the song of your people."

Jade's smile softened. "Take my hand now."

"Sweep me off my feet and have your way with me." He threw his arm out dramatically.

"Ew, Dave." He let himself smile as Jade took his hand and green light cracked around them until they were back in Jade's living room. Her dog was licking its own paw and back to normal. Jade's grasp on his hand remained firm and she was still smiling. He was too, though he had no idea what was going on.

-x.x.x.x.x.x-

_**So I felt really bad about how short the last chapter was and wrote this one, which is the longest. My boyfriend convinced me that I should put it up so if you liked it or hated it, blame him.. Thanks for the reviews still! All the mwahs!**_

_**Edit: Oh man, that had way too many typos. Tried to fix it as much as possible! Thanks for reading, and sorry if it's fast paced or confusing! If you don't understand where they are, look up the frog tower on Jade's island on the homestuck wiki! They're still hanging out on Day 1, so it seems like a lot to cram into here but you know... several Acts of Homestuck take place on one day too! Ehehe. **_


	5. Chapter 5

**Ch. 5**

"So your dog glows and... teleports."

Jade bit her lip and nodded as the Q & A section of her conversation with Dave began. "And can make his body all ghost-like to avoid bullets and whatnot," she reminded meekly.

"Right. That too." He guessed putting the thing down wasn't an option, not that Jade would ever consider that. He was trying not to act so freaked out, and to be honest it wasn't really in his normal emotional repertoire. Still, it's a lot of science fiction crazy to handle in a day.

"I know it's really weird," Jade tried to rationalize for the hundredth time, "But I can't really... do anything about it. That's just the way things are."

He nodded silently.

"Does it talk? Like, is it gonna pull something out of Digimon?"

Jade's mouth did the lopsided thing it did when she was perplexed. He noticed it happened quite often after he made pop culture references, and had to admit to himself_ in the privacy of his mind_ that it was kind of cute half of the time.

"I only know Pokemon, but he doesn't do that either."

"Can't do Thunderbolt? Not even a Tackle? Really? How lame."

Jade rolled her eyes. "I'm sorry my magic dog doesn't live up to your anime standards, Dave!" She roughly pet her dog from his head down to his mid-back; the fur rose and fell back into place. "You're such a good boy though Bec! Aren't you? You could kick any old Pokemon's behind, couldn't you?"

The wild beast simply wagged at her enthusiastically, sitting on its hind legs otherwise calm. Jade finally stopped and sighed to herself. "You think I'm crazy?"

Dave took a second to mull over how to answer the question before saying, "No. I think the situation itself might be over the top insane, like pirouette and swan dive then turn around kick flip of the handle insane, but not you personally."

She laughed a bit. "It's been a long day for both of us. Time for bed, you think?"

"Jade Harley, how on earth, if we're even on earth still," she giggled, "Do you think I can sleep knowing there's a rabid glowing wild beast only a few feet away?"

She grinned, her hand absentmindedly stroking Bec's fur. "Oh don't worry Dave. I'll keep an eye on him. He sleeps in my room anyways."

She suddenly perked up. "Oh! That reminds me, I have to show you your room!"

Dave raised an eyebrow. Jade didn't really seem like she often had guests, so the thought of having a guest room was a bit odd. As she led him to a pad with an outstretched hand though, he could do nothing more than shrug, deciding it best to go with it just like back at the temple.

"You're such a charming prince," he said taking her hand and stepping on the flat pad.

Jade smiled, "Why do you always make me a guy?"

After a second his body felt... fuzzy, like static, then vapor, and back in reverse. He shook off the remaining humming through his being and took a look down. His feet were firmly planted on the same pad, and yet they were in a different room.

"Transportalizer," Jade explained in simple bluntness. "We're on the second floor now."

On either side of them was a door.

"The one on the left is a bedroom, and the one on the right is the bathroom."

"Convenient much for someone who claims they don't have many visitors."

"I didn't say I _never_ had visitors Dave."

"Right..." He turned the knob of the left door and opened it. Inside was a bland but neat room, obviously meant for a guest.

"Anyways, there's not much to this place. I'll leave you to it, okay? Have a good night Dave."

He turned to the dark haired woman and lifted a hand in a gesture to say, "'Night Jade."

She made a face. "Jade? That's a first. No more 'Harley' for me?"

Oh right. Dave shrugged. "Gotta change things up every now and then. You know, mix this shit up and leave you guessing. I'm all mysterious."

She smiles her charming smile and nods. "Whatever Dave. I like it anyways. Night." She lifts her hand to wave at you as her body goes holographic before completely vanishing.

Dave then turned to what was his room for the night. He wasn't really planning on his pilot getting what he prayed wasn't a concussion, and having to spend a night in some random place. He was supposed to be in California right now, not some unknown coordinates in the Pacific.

He sighed mentally. At least there was a pretty damn good view of the ocean here. Suck it Vegas poolside rooms and California coastlines. Large bodies of water were a lot more to take in when they weren't so full of people.

He sat on the edge of the bed and rechecked his sylladex for anything useful for the day. He didn't feel the need to change since he usually slept in a T-shirt and boxers. His phone had enough battery for about one more day, his sword and skateboard were safely tucked into their captchalouge cards.

A digital clock near the bed read 11:43 PM. The lit up numbers reminded him of the amphibian temple he had been in earlier. With a blank expression on his face he recalled everything and let it sink in to his mind, the frog tower, the ride over, Jade treating him like some dame from a superhero comic, her fucked up dog glowing, the crazy countdown lily, the hieroglyphics on the walls, the sunset, Jade taking his hand and laughing at his antics.

Ugh, he really ran around like Indiana Jones today. To be brutally honest he felt more like the Jane to Jade's Tarzan. Still, there were shenanigans. Suddenly feeling all the dirt that had accumulated on himself from the day's activities, Dave decided to change into his spare clothes. In jeans and a T-shirt he felt infinitely cleaner and more comfortable, though admittedly the swap always felt like a downgrade.

Feeling substantially less grimy, Dave walked over the the bathroom to wash off his face.

The bathroom was small, simple. It had all the basics: shower, toilet, sink. In an eased, practiced movement Dave used one hand to remove his shades from his face and folded them to the side. He blinked hard once, adjusting to the florescent lighting. After turning on the faucet, he rinsed his hands quickly before splashing his face with water. He wiped it off with his right hand and leaned into the mirror right in front of him. The slight bags under his eyes were a result of the past few years, but today they seemed... better. He wondered quickly if it had anything to do with the environment.

He wiped his hands and pat his face on a towel (Oh man, super fluffy towel. Shit must be made out of cloud fiber and unicorn fur) nearby and then swept a few wet strands of his blonde hair away from his forehead until it looked proper. Using his right hand, he placed his shades easily back on before turning around and heading back to his room. He gave the transportilizer pad a quick glance on the way. The clock read 12:09 PM. He guessed that this was a time for normal people to be asleep. Not him though. This was nothing. He supposed his lack of tiredness could have something to do with jet lag, copter lag, or whatever it was called.

He would've recorded himself through the day but didn't think his phone's battery power would like it. Besides, he wasn't in the mood to hear himself talk.

Dave sighed. Maybe some warm water or something would help get his tired on. His stomach made a noise.

Oh right. He hadn't eaten since before the copter. At least aside from the coffee. Shit.

Well, it'd be rude to ask a host to whip up a meal so late at night. He hoped some warm water could hold him over until morning. Or at least until he fell asleep. Whichever came first. The director paused at his door as a thought occurred to him. Oh fucking hell, what if her dog was downstairs still? Thing creeped him out.

His stomach made a really loud and uncool sound. Scooby-dooby fuck it, he was hungry and if he found some crumbs he'd be happy.

He stepped out and on to the pad. Seemed pretty simple and intuitive from what he saw. He hoped he wouldn't vaporize himself or get his atoms scrambled into some sort of mess out of a sci-fi flick. With a green buzzing he was gone.

And on the first floor he appeared. Oh joy.

A light had been left on incase his pilot woke up in the middle of the night. A haphazardly written note lay on his stomach explaining... sort of, what had happened so he wouldn't freak out.

Dave wondered if the paper was edible for a second before turning away. He'd also seen the doctor operate her coffee machine. God he did not want to stay up all night with this stomach pain gnawing at him. Thankfully there was a very easy to read picture of hot water on the device. He placed a cup under it and steaming hot water instantly cascaded down. He sighed mentally. Of course he wasn't about to rummage through a stranger's kitchen for food. It was already a stretch for him to be crashing for the night, and it was even more rude to be sneaking about smack dab in the middle of the night.

The water stopped pouring and he picked up his cup carefully, immediately able to see and feel just how close to boiling it was. He had a decent tolerance for heat on his calloused hands, but he set it down nonetheless. Waiting for it just made him all the hungrier. Seeing just how unfulfilling his prize would be caused him even more inward despair.

Feeling a sort of hazy frustration, he sat on a stool and put his head down on crossed arms. Maybe he could fall asleep from the sheer mental exhaustion he was going through now.

Then he heard light footsteps and a squeak. Cute squeak. A very befitting squeak for the mousy Doctor Jade Harley.

"Dave! Oh, I didn't know you were down here!"

"Ah shit, was I too loud?"

She looked disheveled, her hair even wilder and her face tired. He noticed that she changed into baggy pajamas and a loose robe.

"Fuck, were you sleeping?"

"Oh no!" she exclaimed. "Well actually," she backtracked, "I did fall asleep for like, ten minutes at some point but no. You didn't wake me up. I was going to sleep but I got caught up doing some work in my lab..."

"Dedicated worker, huh?"

She smiled. "I don't think I'd say I'm dedicated to my work so much as I am to the plants."

"Hey, some women are cat ladies. Whatever floats your coconut boat, Jade Harley."

"Yes. What about you Dave Strider? What are you doing here at this hour?"

His stomach answered for him.

Jade's hands immediately flew to her mouth. "Oh my god, I didn't feed you dinner!"

"I'm okay, don't worry. Took care of it." He couldn't help the sudden dread that overcame him as his thoughts returned to the water in front of him.

"Coffee?" Jade asked, walking to the island where he sat.

"Uh..."

From across him, she saw the clear steamy liquid that filled his cup.

"Oh, Dave. That is _not_ taking care of it! I'm really sorry for not giving you anything to eat. I stay up really late and sometimes eat at 2 in the morning. I'm _super_ sorry for being thoughtless!"

"To be fair I wasn't thinking about it much while you explained your freak show dog to me."

Jade smiled in a way that he characterized as both amused and apologetic. Unwittingly the next word that came to mind was _charming_. He was too hungry and exhausted to dwell on it though. Oh fuck she was talking and he wasn't paying attention.

"That okay?"

"Uh... sorry, what?"

Jade had her head in her refrigerator, leaning in and peering into its content. "I asked if you'd be okay with salad to start off with."

"Oh yeah, sure anything," he replied.

"Okay."

Jade emerged then carrying lettuce, a carrot, a tomato, and a... cucumber. The only reason he could identify the last thing was thanks to the epic adventures of the Veggie Tales. Oh Bob, Larry, Carrot babies, your story would never go forgotten.

After she set them down on the couch she proceeded to take out a cutting board and a knife. Uh oh. Sorry guys, don't stand a chance against a blade. Poor vegetables. At least they didn't have faces or jump around or anything.

"I don't need to wash them since I grew them myself. Already cleaned them a while back," she said with a smile as she began chopping up the components.

He'd never looked forward to a pile of vegetables more in his life, never mind that a Veggie Tale childhood massacre was going on before his eyes. Usually he was a steak man, typical of his Texas upbringing. Hate the stereotypes all you wanted, the food was fucking good. Salad was basically compost drenched in whatever dressing best covered up the taste of the garbage. Jade whisked together some oil, some brown stuff with salt and pepper before dumping most of it into a bowl over the loose mass of chopped up veggie carcass.

Jade handed him his bowl and he held himself back from going all Hungry Hungry Hippo on his food, waiting while Jade put the remainder of the stuff back into the refrigerator.

"I also have some leftovers... I can heat that up too." She didn't wait for him to answer before putting a plate into her microwave. Then she sat down and handed him a fork with another smile. Without thinking about it he returned the gesture.

"Thanks." With that he dug in. Dead childhood greens never tasted so good. Oh man, seriously though, this shit _was_ the shit. He was suddenly even more grateful that she really piled a big amount into his bowl.

"Sorry it's not much..." Jade apologized.

"Are you fucking serious? This is the best pile of murder I've ever had."

Jade raised her eyebrow in confusion. "Um..."

Oh right, he was making all those references in his head. He'd forgotten to ramble aloud with all that lack of energy.

"It's a kid's show about dancing vegetables. They have faces and go on adventures and stuff."

"Oh, I've never been able to do that with my vegetables!" she exclaimed with surprise. "Just fruits and stuff! Do you know how they did it?"

"Uh..."

"It's a cartoon isn't it...?" Jade asked, quite embarrassed suddenly. He could see the pink begin to tint her cheeks as she cast her gaze down and ate stiffly.

"Yeah, Jade. It's a cartoon." He paused. "Explanation time. Again."

"Well you know I'm a botanist and all... I have my own garden and lab and all that... I may have managed to engineer some very... _animated_ fruits."

"Don't tell me they're in the refrigerator."

She returned to bowing her head and picking at her salad.

"Well that'll be a conundrum for those 'I don't eat anything with a face' type people." He could see a faint smile on her mouth as she continued to prod with her fork.

"Okay, out with 'em."

"They're sleeping. I never know what to do with them so they just stay in my fridge and jump around when you open it up. I can't _eat_ them as much as I think they want me to."

"Must be pretty unhappy if they're so ready to dive into your teeth."

"They actually smile all the time! I don't know what to do with them..." she sighed.

"Hey, might as well make a profit. Film them dancing around and post it up online. It'll be a hit."

At that point Jade laughed and the microwave went off.

She set a steaming plate of... something that must have been chicken down in front of him. "You can have most of it. I'm not extremely hungry."

Dave thanked her again and restrained himself from stuffing it down his throat. He must have not done a good job covering up how hungry he remained because Jade started giggling soon after.

"Do I have something on my face, Harley?"

She shook her head. "No, your face looks fine. I-"

"Thanks," he cut off with a smug grin.

She rolled her eyes. "I'm really enjoying your company. I just thought that it's been a really weird day and now we're eating together. It's probably the most normal thing we've done today. I mean, our conversation over coffee was a lot of interrogation."

"To be fair, that conversation didn't involve fruits with faces."

Her laugh was... dorky, to be frank. As they sat down and talked over dinner he found that it was naturally very easy for him to induce her laughter from small giggles to louder outbursts that she let out without restraint. Dave found himself very fond of the sound. He was extremely happy that he got to hear the sound over a hundred times that night as they stayed up to talk. During the course of the night he learned more things about her than he knew about people that he had worked with for years. Moreover, he was genuinely interested in everything as much as he'd make snide remarks or sarcastic comments.

His half of the conversation was equally informative, which was rare for him. While his usual style of communication involved many spun around words with little content, the things he revealed to Jade Harley were things that he had only expressed to a very select few, even some that he hadn't found the time to fully express outside of his own mind. She would nod, respond, extract more with her encouragement. At some point they moved to a balcony on one of the highest levels of her tower. There she pointed out the stars that he could easily make out even behind the dark lenses that covered his eyes. He listened to her ramble and did a bit of his own ranting. She fell asleep for six minutes, out of nowhere. After waking up groggily she explained that she had mild narcolepsy, a mess of words spilling from her mouth as she apologized for falling asleep on him. Literally. Knocked out right there on his shoulder.

When the sky started to get a tad lighter, neither of them noticed. They had adjusted themselves to laying down and looking up at the sky, laying opposite of one another with their heads half a foot apart. Jade eventually rolled over to her stomach as their conversation drew even longer. If he angled his head slightly, he could see her eyes luminescent in the light. They had talked about vague things that got more and more specific: where they grew up, how Jade got on this island, how SBAHJ was birthed in his mind to grace the world. Biographies funneled down until they began to learn about each other in detail.

He told her about his music, the second love of his life, his inspiration, the sounds that he wanted to capture, the notions he wanted to convey. He even delved into the great mystery behind his shades and spent an embarrassingly long length of time going into great detail about how to work the intricate art of irony. Jade pressed on whenever he caught himself talking _too _much, and he'd talk and talk until he forgot to be embarrassed again. When he was finished she looked... absorbed, engrossed, like he hadn't talked to a wall, like she wasn't confused but very enlightened. Ironically, it confused him a whole hell of a lot. Still, it was a good feeling. Clumsy, relaxed, casual, maybe even _right_.

By dawn they were quiet, huddled next to each other under their own blankets watching the sun go up. His mind went back to the sunset that he had witnessed under similar circumstances, a moment in time that felt years behind him. He hadn't known Jade back then.

Jade Harley was a botanist. She grew her own garden and was badass enough to play them music on her bass guitar. She was forgetful, so much so that she used to wear a handful of multicolored bands on both hands to remind her what to do everyday. As a girl she ran away from home, never seeing her brother again. Her green eyes shone brilliantly as the moon lit up the water caught in them. The doctor suffered from the occasional migraine, she loved her loyal dog, wished she could learn new languages and wanted to hear songs play on the radio.

Dave looked down and saw that Jade had fallen asleep again. He wondered if it was the narcolepsy or if she had just worn out from a whole night of conversation. He didn't know what floor her bedroom resided in, nor felt like he should enter it. That would be his excuse, he told himself before closing his eyes as they slept side by side for the next two hours.

**-x.x.x.x.x.x- **

**Sorry that it's been so long since I've updated this one. Between a very busy summer that abruptly turned into a pretty packed school semester, I haven't had a lot of time to write as well and as much as I'd like to! Here's a longer chapter to push our little ship along. Also I hope that no one minds that the dates here are a bit different and don't match the canon, it is an AU after all. Thanks for reading! Feel free to review if you'd like to also! It makes me happy to be honest. Mwahs!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Ch. 6**

After spending the night with Jade he should've pretty much knocked out in exhaustion on the helicopter ride home. Instead Dave found that aside from a twenty minute nap here, and a ten minute nap there, he simply could not sleep.

When Raul woke up, Jade made some breakfast and charmed him before they went their separate ways. After spending the night talking, the goodbye exchanged between Dave and Jade was casual and non-commital. He was extremely foolish for thinking it'd be all dramatic and shit. She gave him some seed packets and homemade tea blends with instructions on how to grow her plants and how to make the tea and when. She instructed him to brew some for himself and Raul once they got home, but he wasn't an avid tea drinker so he planned to just send the stuff home with his pilot instead. She also threw in some pain medication saying it was much safer to use than anything over the counter. He figured that the doctor knew best.

For being so tired he was awfully restless. He replayed the events from the previous night over and over in his head. Man he was itching to get home and get some ideas flowing for his next movie, get a few mixes in here and there, and...

To message her.

Jade had given him her chum handle for pesterchum verbally, for some reason not willing to write it down. He usually didn't need to write down things anyways, so he had no problems with that. GardenGnostic. Knowing Jade it'd be even easier to remember.

Despite his anxiousness to arrive home in a hurry, he was also weirdly upset the farther they got from Jade's island. He almost asked to turn the copter back, but what would have been his excuse? Oh hey Jade, forgot my watch or some shit, just came back to get it. Dumb.

Besides, there was work to be done. Dread it all he wanted, home was where he needed to go right now. Or at least one of his homes. Whatever.

He remembered Jade waving him off when they departed. He watched her like a sap behind the safety of his shades as they lifted off the ground and flew away. Her hair whipped around crazier than Medusa as she waved with a smile standing next to her stoic dog, who looked wild as the winds brushed through his long white fur. He raised his hand to give her a thumbs up paired with a stoic face.

"See ya, you fucked up mutt..." he mumbled in a way that was tinged with the slightest bit of affection. After all, he played a big part in the everything that had happened in the last two days.

"Bye, Jade."

...

When they got to his California home, Dave thanked his pilot with a large chunk of change for all the shit he had to go through, his share of Jade's tea leaves, and the last of the pain medication dose that Doctor Harley prescribed.

"Thanks a lot man, sorry about all that."

The man shrugged, "Anytime, sir." Then he went home to his wife and kids.

Dave went straight to his empty apartment and immediately headed for the shower. His phone was charging and his shit lay scattered on the floor, leaving a messy trail to the bathroom.

He sighed against the tile as the warm water eased the muscles that had tightened in the helicopter for about 10 hours. The tension slowly ebbed away, though not completely. Never completely. With his body relaxing he found that his mind was still running a marathon dedicated largely to one Jade Harley. When he wasn't thinking about her, he was preoccupied with questions. What was with the dog? The symbols at the frog temple? The timer on the lotus plant had stuck firmly to his mind, the numbers counting down as if they were projected on his shades which he wasn't even wearing at the moment. He might wear the things _all the time_ but he wasn't going to wear them _all _the time of course. At least not in the shower. What would even be the point?

With a slight squeak of the cold water handle, Dave finished showering. His light hair was plastered atop his head looking a few shades darker. Quickly, and with the ease of habit he wrapped a towel around his waist after stepping out. He grabbed another towel and rubbed it against his head vigorously before patting away at his upper body. With one hand he put his shades back on his face, intense red replaced by reflective black. All the while thoughts streamed through his mind like the Nile. All his new questions melded with the numbing static of the never ending ideas that drilled his head. It felt like something between a jackhammer and a two ton headache at its worst.

He shook it away, all of it as best as he could. Yet there Jade stuck like a sticker onto his mental capacities. It wasn't like him. People didn't make personal impacts on him. Sure they could feed ideas, memes, tropes, stereotypes, material. There were only a few that had any meaning beyond being useful as a worker or as a reference.

When he signed onto pesterchum he saw that one such person just so happened to be online.

**- turntechGodhead [TG] began pestering tentacleTherapist [TT] - **

**TG: rose **

**TT: Dave. How did your venture off to Asia go?**

**TG: fine**

**TG: asiany **

**TG: doesnt matter. weird shit went down somewhere off in the middle of nowhere**

**TG: like bermuda triangle weird shit**

**TG: maybe i was in the bermuda triangle holy shit i dont even know**

**TT: That's in the Atlantic Ocean, Dave. Near Florida.**

**TG: ok whatever point is that shit went down like the economy or like oil drills and the superman ride at six flags**

**TT: I've never been. **

**TG: its one of those drop rides**

**TT: Ah, continue. **

He proceeded to tell his friend, one of his only friends, the basic points of what had happened.

**TT: I guess I'll have to take the bet off of you being homosexual. That's too bad. **

**TG: we are not talking about how gay you think i am and want me to be for your slash wizard fanfics lalonde**

**TT: How is it fanfiction when I wrote the books myself? **

**TG: dont change the subject**

**TG: and dont even pretend like you didnt wish i was into dudes for your hot ero literature**

**TT: I'd never. It just seemed like that was the case with your obsession with "dudes." I mean, SBaHJ's cast is almost entirely male, not to mention how blatantly homoerotic you've made the relationship between your main characters. **

**TG: bromance **

**TG: its called bromance rose and you would know nothing about it **

**TT: However you want to label it, an artist's work is the eye through which the audience sees the artist himself, and despite the thick layers of "irony" that you use to cover up everything in your life, all I see is a bunch of references to male genitalia and Oedipal issues. **

**TG: why are we even friends omg **

Dave smacked his head to his desk. The exhaustion was finally kicking in, and Rose Lalonde was subduing his consciousness like some sort of snake charmer with her wannabe psychology babble. She was the only person that he put on the same level as himself, though he meant that as no conceited comment. In fact, she was probably above him in many ways except in making any pop culture references. Girl needed some street cred, which is an extremely difficult task when one spends most of her waking hours locked up in her home writing fifty pounds worth of literature in a day. He'd admit she was sharp as though Japanese kitchen knives that were always on television ads though.

When Rose finished what was probably three chapters worth of analysis of his life and everything she could pick apart about what had happened with Jade (in what was probably the abridged version), she gave him one more curt message before she got to bed.

**TT: Now that you've prolonged it long enough by talking to me, message her. Good night Dave. **

**- tentacletherapist [TT] ceased pestering turntechGodhead [TG] - **

__Fucking trust Rose to read into the literal conversation he was having. Not the words or content of the conversation, the fact that the conversation was actually happening. Who says a guy can't talk to his friend at like, her two in the morning without it being an excuse? Like he, Dave Strider, would feel like a panicky preteen girl trying to dial her crush's number. Too lame. No, he was just in the mood to have his ear talked off right this very minute. He could add Jade to his chums easy. Easy...

He typed her chum handle with a straight face, not at all feeling slightly sick and nervous about it.

Shit.

What if she didn't want to talk to him? They had talked an awful lot last night but who's to say it meant anything?

Dave almost called Rose to ask if she could analyze the fuck out of that question but like hell if he would ever sound that desperate. Of course Jade would talk to him. They got pretty close, right? That was a thing that totally happened. She was like the Batman to his Lois Lane or some shit. Comics.

**- turntechGodhead [TG] began pestering gardenGnostic [GG] - **

**TG: yo jade**

**TG: so this is dave**

**TG: of the strider variety**

**TG: you know the one that just paid you a visit in toadstool town **

**TG: yep in the flesh**

**TG: or you know the digital flesh **

Goddammit he was rambling. Or was he? He was certainly over thinking which wasn't a thing that usually happened, but he could feel the rare heat of embarrassment clawing its way to his face and the rest of his body. Oh my god this was a disaster. Abort ship. Every man for himself. To the lifeboats captain!

No. I will go down with this ship. I won't put my hands up and surrender. There will be no white flag above my door. I'm in l-

**GG: dave?**

**TG: oh hey there**

**-x.x.x.x.x.x- **

**Hello readers! Hope you liked this chapter... There's quite a bit more to this story but I'm pretty busy with school and things, so sorry if chapters don't come out very quickly. I'm honestly not trying to fish or pander when I say that reviews make me write faster. They really do make me **_**want**_** to update quicker, and sometimes I buck up and write when I read them, but they don't necessarily mean that I will... What I'm saying is **_**THANK YOU**_** for every favorite and follow and review. They inspire me and drive me more than you all know. Thanks for reading! **

**Edit: Made corrections and some not too significant changes.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Ch. 7**

**GG: dave you didnt drink the tea i gave you did you? **

**TG: no was it supposed to help me sleep or some shit because that ride home was awful and i feel like the energy bunny**

**TG: all pink and banging at my drums **

**TG: been like 10 hours**

**TG: thats the power of duracell **

**GG: dave you are making more silly references to things that i dont understand! **

**TG: sorry sorry **

**TG: im not a big tea fan so i gave my share away **

**GG: oh no :(**

**TG: uh**

**TG: was it like a present**

**TG: cause im really sorry if it was **

**GG: no its okay i didnt give you too much but**

**TG: what**

**GG: you were supposed to drink it! :( **

**TG: why **

**GG: this is going to sound really mean of me... **

**TG: well out with it **

Jade proceeded to explain that she had developed quite a few remedies for various ailments and things of the like in her younger, exploratory days of being a botanist. She'd come up with a few narcotic substances and hallucinogens along the way, a point that Dave tacked on many jokes upon. That certainly would've explained the major acid trip that the whole trip had been.

Then there were some other findings done later, researched and more intentional. Among them was certainly a painkiller/anasthetic, but there was something else that she was driven to discover: an amnesiac, and she found it. And tried to give it to him.

**TG: woah there what**

**GG: i know**

**GG: im really sorry but you understand**

**GG: no one is supposed to know where i live**

**TG: so what**

**TG: you give me some magic voodoo tea to forget that you ever existed **

**GG: yes... **

**GG: i'm sorry dave but i do it to everyone who finds out where i live**

**GG: let alone all the things i showed you! like my dog and the ruins...**

**GG: no one else knows about these things**

**TG: so like you don't trust im gonna keep your whole deal a secret? like anyone would believe me **

**GG: its not that**

**GG: there are more spies and ways to spy on people over there than you would expect**

**GG: there were a million ways to discover things while i was still there**

**GG: imagine how much more she can do now**

**GG: i mean if she wanted to find me she probably could but as much as possible i would prefer to be as off the radar as possible **

**TG: is this the part where you like disappear and i get obsessed trying to find out who you were and stuff like in the movies**

**TG: wait no you wanted me to forget about you completely **

**TG: getting mixed signals here doc harley **

**TG: like first youre all boom boom baby lets get it on **

**GG: i dont think i was like that dave...**

**TG: then never come back dave strider farewell beautiful maiden **

**GG: or that**

**TG: like girl you gotta get your story straight cause right now its more twisted than a three year old trying to tie his shoes **

**TG: the bunny ear style dont work so he goes for the run around the hill method but shits just gone cray and now his fingers are all caught up in a double loop dee loop**

**TG: so his parents give up and get him velcro instead **

**GG: um i dont know exactly where that was going and how we ended up there!**

**TG: yeah me neither **

**GG: but if it means anything **

**GG: im happy you didnt drink it :) **

**GG: so thats the velcro part i think? **

**TG: sure **

After that fiasco, Jade and Dave kept in contact on Pesterchum. They figured it was the least conspicuous way of communication seeing as it was probably one of the lowest forms of computer technology there was around. After much exaggerated yet still heartfelt apologizing, Dave made a big deal about forgiving Jade for toying with his emotions like some playboy.

He would send her pictures of his latest project, tell her about the mishaps of the day on set, which she would listen to enthusiastically. He tended to do most of the talking as his life wasn't as static as hers, but now and then he would try to wrap his head around whatever discovery she would make. He kept himself online almost constantly with his phone to talk to her until one day when he overheard some of the set assistants gossiping about him, saying how they caught him smiling while he was on his phone. God, it wasn't like he was incapable of facial expressions. Still, he felt particularly exposed about the whole ordeal and tried to keep his talking with Jade as private as possible from then on.

He found himself blowing off more and more social event to get home to his computer instead where he could send her links to shitty movies streaming online. Rose not so vaguely wondered if the sentiment counted as dating, which he tried to ignore. As if watching crappy films simultaneously and commenting on how horrendous they were was something remotely romantic. He continued to think so for all but two weeks when Jade told him that she'd be out on their usual Friday movie night to test out some outdoor environments for a new set of plants she had been breeding. Essentially that meant she was camping out for the night and wouldn't have a good enough signal to talk to him. She told him maybe he could be like a normal person and watch a movie that was actually good in a theater with someone. Then she signed off.

That Friday Dave found himself extremely bored. Even Rose who was usually cooped up writing until her hands went numb had a book signing to attend to out of town. He sprawled on his couch and tried to watch television. When one of the two dozen Betty Crocker commercials aired he immediately shut the thing off and gave his all into making some shitastic music. He got a few good bits and parts, but nothing really came together.

**- turntechGodhead [TG] began pestering tentacleTherapist [TT] - **

**TG: rose are you back yet**

**TG: god how longs it take to write down your name a bunch of times **

**TG: unless you only know how to write on the computer**

**TG: or you burned up in the sun when you went outside**

**TG: had one of those**

**TG: oh god the light it burns **

**TG: moments**

**TG: yeah thats probably what happened **

**TG: you turned into a witch or something from being home alone all the time **

He sighed. Leave it to Rose to be gone on the one day he could use her abysmal amount of attention and analyzing to get him through the hours. A minute later he heard his phone go off with a message.

**TT: Dave you're being pathetic. **

**TG: rude**

**TG: hello to you too**

**TT: Hello. **

**TT: Have you been moping around all day? **

**TG: define moping**

**TT: I figured as much, what with Jade gone for what now, 10 hours? **

**TG: like 11 hours and 26 minutes thank you**

**TT: Right, and what have you managed to do to occupy your time since then? **

**TG: plenty of stuff**

**TG: watched some tv, mixed some totally sweet new songs**

**TG: like all the songs**

**TG: i made all the songs and watched all the tv **

**TG: productive as shit **

**TT: I'm going to take that last bit literally. **

**TT: Will you please just admit to yourself, and to me, that you have a Jade dependency? It'll make this whole process so much shorter. **

**TT: Though if you're as desperate for me to gracefully act as your guide to enlightenment on the matter as I am to take you there, then by all means keep up the blatant and pointless denial. **

**TG: why did i want you back**

**TG: like**

**TG: what is even wrong with me to wish youd get your ass here to pester me**

**TT: Is this what Strider affection feels like? It's like I'm basking in the warm glow of an inactive volcano. **

**TG: wow yeah, you should feel my deep love like the power of fifty thousand flamethrowers trying to burn your witch ass on a stake **

**TT: I do wish you'd stop calling me a witch or vampire or whatever cliche mythological creature is popular at the moment. **

**TG: right youre a wizard girl all the way**

**TG: as if that ship hasnt been dragged through the oceans a billion times before being run into the ground so hard its finally resurfaced in china **

**TG: i thought girl wizards were called witches anyways **

**TT: That very well may be, but the witches you're referring to are so much less fascinating. **

**TG: sorry to get your wizard panties in a bunch**

**TG: oh fuck forget i mentioned that **

**TT: What? Your desire to cross dress? Why would I bring that up when you manage to segue into the topic all on your own? I'd be happy to take a detour to talk about that tonight also. **

**TG: oh my fucking god no**

**TG: you know what**

**TG: fine lets talk about how much you ship me with jade**

**TT: Oh no. I was looking forward to pushing you towards your drag queen destiny. **

**TG: yeah well too bad **

**TT: Indeed. **

**TG: so what this deal with jade that you think i have**

**TT: Seeing as how you're a wreck after, what's the clock say now? 11 hours and 53 minutes? I think it should be obvious you're obsessed with her and rather clingy at that. **

**TG: nope does not compute**

**TT: I thought we agreed that you admitting this would make this whole thing much easier on the both of us. **

**TG: and take away all the joy you get from dissecting me to pieces, blending the chunks of emotional carcass and spoon feeding them to me? id never be so cruel lalonde**

**TT: Oh thank you. So considerate of you to let me have one of the few untouched pleasures I have in my lonely cat woman life. **

**TG: youre fucking welcome **

For the next two hours Rose did a marvelous job of shoving feelings up Dave's ass until they came out the other end and he finally had a verbal vomit session of admission that maybe he kind of had a Harley thing. After a day with her, and a few months into knowing her via bright green text on Pesterchum, he was a mess for one Jade Harley. Maybe. Probably. Fuck she just signed on in the midst of the wreckage. Rose decided to be pure evil incarnate by psyching him out while he was in the middle of a mental breakdown to boot. What should he say, what should he do?

Once Dave received a happy message of greeting from her the whirlwind tornado comes to a sudden stop. The debris lands everywhere and it's pretty much a disaster, yet Dave felt oddly okay realizing for the first time that he is watching it all on a screen. Jade Harley is a person on the other side of a computer, so he should be able to keep his shit together. What's so intimidating about words? Nothing. He can take his ass and shove in the refrigerator to fucking chill because even if he did have a thing for this girl she was in the middle of the ocean anyways. Yes, Jade was miles and miles away.

**- gardenGnostic [GG] began pestering turntechGodhead [TG] - **

**GG: hi dave :) **

And it was in that moment that Dave Strider realized that Jade was really fucking far away, and he needed to see her like right a fucking way.

Too bad he had no idea how to get there.

**TG: harley where the fuck do you live even**

-x.x.x.x.x.x-

_**Hi everyone and happy New Year! This chapter was really chat based... and that's always intimidating because it's more pressure to be in character when I'm sure I'm terrible at that. Hope you all have great years! It's our year homestucks! :D**_


	8. Chapter 8

**Ch. 8**

Alright, they were going to do this, goddammit. They were going to do this. They were going to make this fucking happen. Dave let out a breath to calm his nerves, going over their last conversation in his head.

**GG: dave are you sure you gave me the right coordinates? **

**TG: jade i have googled this shit and done the calculations**

**TG: i got this**

**TG: i even gave you the exact number of feet i am suspended off ocean level **

**TG: and i have graciously specified to the centimeter how far up you would have to go to land on my literal floor **

**TG: shit is the plushest of carpets **

**GG: thank you :) i am just making sure!**

He fixed his tie and checked his phone. Jade still wasn't online.

Was this too formal? Usually when people were planning on an island "vacation" they dressed a little... less business-like probably? Whatever. He could pull this off. Suit and tie all the time. Bringing the class up in this joint.

Still, he wondered how it would go over. Did it look like he was trying too hard? Not that it mattered if she was impressed, but did it look like he was trying to impress her? Was he? Nah...

**TG: yeah so how exactly is this going to go down again**

**TG: you do your flashy dog deal and poof over to my place?**

**GG: um basically? **

**TG: then are we chilling in strider town or what**

**GG: i thought you said you wanted to come over here!**

**TG: yes that is the plan**

**TG: but like is it gonna be all**

**TG: beam me up captain**

**TG: just dropping by the NYC to rangle me up that cool fellow dave strider**

**TG: then off we go**

**GG: pretty much! i dont like staying in big cities much. too risky. **

**GG: is that ok? **

**TG: yeah its all good **

He gulped a lump down his throat as he went over his personal check-list. Extra clothes, snacks (Doritos, duh), phone, laptop, chargers for the phone and laptop, toothbrush, toothpaste, passport. He wasn't sure he needed a passport, but hey, who the fuck knows?

The agreed time was 6:00. It was 5:51 now.

He sat on the edge of his bed. Wait, fuck. He gave the coordinates for his living room.

Quickly Dave walked out of his bedroom. Should he wait in the living room? He was essentially getting picked up, but was he supposed to wait there for the Glow Dog Express or was that weird? Okay yeah, it was already weird, but still. This whole thing was a stupid mess of an idea. Jade had questioned why he wanted to go back to the island, and he had told her that he wanted to better document stuff, movie inspiration, blah blah. Free vacation with no press. He had done a marvelous job of avoiding saying anything sappy like, "I am fucking desperate to see you." No, no. He was _way_ cooler than that. Nothing of the sort had ruined his I-am-above-this-all attitude and nonchalance.

Jade seemed slightly hesitant at first, but she relented after a ridiculous slideshow presentation he explained over video chat. Always need to appeal to these science types with logic. In Jade's case he could usually slip in a shit ton of irony and humor for her to laugh off. Then she'd go along with whatever idea he was spewing her way. That's precisely how he'd gotten her to watch so many shitty movies with him.

5:54.

Cool, cool. Everything was cool. He was the picture of cool. Take a snapshot, this shit is basically Antarctic. Hell, use an infrared camera to measure the levels of absolute coolness this guy is currently displaying.

Dave frowned, running that metaphor into the ground hard. Time to distract himself with other thoughts.

Rose had teased him incessantly about the trip, mocking his inability to be upfront about wanting to see Jade. Gotta play it closer to the vest, woman. He could just imagine the smirk on her face and roll of her violet eyes.

5:56 and forty two seconds.

Oh shit, should he have gotten her a present? Too late to run to the store now.

Dave strutted to the shelves under his plasma television and proceeded to shuffle through his dvd collection, the movement expelling only a little bit of his pent up stress induced energy. He finally settled on one of the HD editions of the second SBaHJ movie. He shook it to check if the disc was actually there before deciding that it was probably a good idea to check if it was even the right disc. He opened the plastic case and gave a curt nod. There was the disc in its shitty, gaudy jpeg style covered glory. There was a lot of work that went into making it as perfectly conksucky as it was. The artists he hired just didn't know what wonders the graffiti tool could do. Amateurs. You'd think they didn't know how to get the most out of MSPaint. Photoshop? Get that shit out of here.

The hour was upon him. Six o'clock struck, and Dave didn't need his watch to know that three seconds had passed. Misplaced thoughts became to stir in his head as the anticipation kicked in like some grade A meds. What if she wasn't coming? She thought it was a bad idea and backed out, and now she would just stop talking to him because shit had gotten too deep. Maybe she got lost? Fuck he had checked those coordinates like twenty times. What if she ended up wit half her torso in the couch? Can you get lost in teleportation land? How the fuck could her dog understand coordinates?

6:01 and thirty six seconds is the marker for an alien flash of neon green. Dave feels fortunate that his sunglasses are on permanent display at the Strider museum of suave, aka his face. Still, he can't help but squint as the light invades his vision. He makes sure to fix his composure as the S.S. Harley materialized in front of him.

In the aftermath of teleportation magic, she looks wild with glowing eyes and a wide grin.

"Jade, you're late."

She doesn't ask what time it is, but grins wider.

"Aw, Dave. Did you want to see me that badly?"

_Yes, _he thinks.

"Nah. I bet you were just nervous, it's all cool. I forgive you, Jade. You know, for making me wait. Even though that's rude as fuck. You were pacing around all fidgety, like when the nerd tries to ask the super hot girl-next-door cheerleader to prom."

"Dave, why are you always a woman in these scenarios?" she asks with a scoff.

God did he miss that sound. It was so much better than how he remembered it.

"And did you call me a nerd?"

He grins up at her unwaveringly, knowing that the roles were reversed but trying his hand at conviction.

Jade rolls her eyes and extends her hand, and Dave has to ruin the moment because that makes it easier to handle. She knows to expect something from him and she gives a waiting look.

With a natural smile he settles for, "To infinity and beyond, yo."

As the room fuzzes away, Jade's laugh bounces around in crevices of Dave's mind. It repeats on what seems like an infinite loop until it's burned into him, searing hot like the way his body feels, especially at the point where their hands are joined.

In the next instant they're in Jade's living room. He feels like static, like sand, but he grounds himself around the place where Jade has her palm against his wrist until he feels whole again. He's completely back on planet earth by the time that she lets go, and yet the instant she detaches herself he feels like he's missing something.

She's giving him a look. There's a smile on her face; an intensity in her eyes that's looking him over to make sure he's alright after their flash trip through the time space continuum or whatever just happened.

A small lump forms low in his throat as he swallows the words that want to escape. _I missed you_.

-x.x.x.x.x.x-

_**Sorry for the long wait. I just got out of school a little over a week ago and have been doing a lot of relaxing and drawing! Thank you for all the super sweet, supportive comments. They drive me to keep writing, even when I'm not feeling so great, so the encouragement is so, very appreciated. Please continue to do so if you feel so inclined. Congratulations to anyone who has graduated, anyone about to, and my best to those still stressing at school! Again, thank you sooooo much! **_


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